/*
 The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1
 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
 Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis,
 WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
 specific language governing rights and limitations under the License.

 The Original Code is "Variable.java".  Description:
 "Interface type for Varies"

 The Initial Developer of the Original Code is University Health Network. Copyright (C)
 2015.  All Rights Reserved.

 Contributor(s): ______________________________________.

 Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms of the
 GNU General Public License (the "GPL"), in which case the provisions of the GPL are
 applicable instead of those above.  If you wish to allow use of your version of this
 file only under the terms of the GPL and not to allow others to use your version
 of this file under the MPL, indicate your decision by deleting  the provisions above
 and replace  them with the notice and other provisions required by the GPL License.
 If you do not delete the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of
 this file under either the MPL or the GPL.
 */

package ca.uhn.hl7v2.model;

/**
 * Interface type for Varies
 */
public interface Variable extends Type {

    /**
     * Returns the data contained by this instance of Variable.  Returns a {@link ca.uhn.hl7v2.model.GenericPrimitive} unless
     * {@link #setData(Type)} has been called.
     *
     * @return the data contained by this instance of Variable
     */
    Type getData();

    /**
     * Sets the data contained by this instance of Variable.  If a data object already exists,
     * then its values are copied to the incoming data object before the old one is replaced.
     * For example, if {@link #getData()} returns an ST with the value "19901012" and you call
     * setData(new DT()), then subsequent calls to {@link #getData()} will return the same DT, with the value
     * set to "19901012".
     *
     * @param data the data to be set for this Varies instance
     * @throws DataTypeException if the data could not be set
     */
    void setData(Type data) throws DataTypeException;

}
